1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of athletic gloves, and more particularly to a goalkeeper's glove with protective fingertip extension elements to both protect against jamming injuries to the fingers and to extend the reach of the wearer.
2. Background of the Invention
As the only soccer players who are allowed to use their hands during play, goalkeepers are selective about the gloves they wear to help them get a secure grip on the ball and to provide a measure of protection for their hands. Besides catching the ball in the air or stopping the ball on the ground, goalkeepers frequently punch or tip the ball away from the goal or out of bounds over the goal to make saves since giving an opponent a corner kick opportunity is much better than giving up a point. Also, the goalkeeper frequently collides with an opponent or must put himself/herself in harm's way in either pursuit of the ball or in protecting the ball during play. The goalkeeper's hands are vulnerable to injury due to all of the possible impacts with the ball, the ground, the goal itself or other players.
Injuries to the fingers often receive little attention, even though they are relatively common and painful. Given that the two hands contain a total of some 30 finger bones connected at the joints by ligaments, in addition to all of the tendons connecting these bones to the muscles in the hands, it is not surprising that fingers are often the locus of sports injuries. A common injury is a jammed finger which refers to a wide array of strain, sprain or dislocation injuries of the finger generally due to a blow to the end of the finger. One type of jamming injury is referred to as mallet finger in which the tendon that straightens the tip of the finger is injured. Without prompt medical attention, permanent loss of the ability to straighten the finger is possible. In strain injuries, the ligaments are over-stretched causing pain and swelling. Sprain injuries result from partial tearing and disruption of the ligaments. In another typical jamming injury, a finger joint is compressed with the adjacent bones forced together with a twisting of the joint as well. The compression and torquing can often lead to dislocation of the joint. Severe dislocation can also result in complete ligament tears. These types of injuries to the fingers and hands are painful and frequently require long recovery times.
In addition to hand protection, it is advantageous for a goalkeeper's glove to extend the reach of the goalkeeper. This is true in any playing situation in which the goalkeeper is reaching to make a save or to punch or tip a ball away from the goal.
Prior goalkeeper's gloves have provided enhanced protection for the hands primarily against wear and abrasion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,279 to Hochmuth discloses a goalkeeper's glove with finger tip caps provided at the ends of the glove's finger. Each cap comprises hat-shaped elastically compressible padding formed of porous rubber material or sponge rubber material that is in contact with and grasps the keeper's finger tip. Prior goalkeeper's gloves have addressed enlarging the surface area of the hand. For example, a prior goalkeeper's glove illustrated in DE 19856310 to Scheuermann provides a larger handprint by use of lateral extensions around the fingers.
Reinforcing the glove fingers from excessive wear has been the focus of work gloves as well. U.S. Pat. No. 1,074,351 to Carson discloses a work glove for handling sacks of grain or cement, and barrels and boxes in which wear occurs most heavily on the rear portion of the fingers and over the fingernails. To combat the added wear in this area Carson provides a leather hood over the tip and top of each finger of the glove.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0185058 to McGough discloses an American football quarterback glove that is designed to protect the hand from blows against the helmet of a defender. McGough discloses hollow fingertip inserts that are molded from semi-rigid rubber-like material and which fully surround the tips of the fingers like sewing thimbles while lengthening the fingers slightly. The inserts are contoured to conform to the rounded shape of the football so that the fingertips make complete contact with the surface.
Given the frequency of hand injuries experienced by goalkeepers, and the attendant discomfort and recovery time, there is a need to better protect goalkeepers' hands while ensuring that there is no performance disadvantage for doing so.